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 In
1924, two brothers, Herbert and Norman Woolley,
immigrated to New Jersey from New York. They wanted to start a coal company,
much like their father's. Herb was twenty-four years old and Norman only
seventeen. They were looking for an area that was young and growing. What they
found was Maplewood. It was a small town, and they believed it had potential.
They found a spacious site on Burnett Avenue where the Woolley Coal Company
opened its doors, providing coal, ice and wood to local homeowners. The boys had
found their niche. Herb kept the books, while Norman worked with the customers.
In their first year their "fleet" of delivery wagons grew to seven.
 When
the Depression hit, local businesses pulled I together and figured out ways to
keep working. Herb , and Norman used their horses to help dig out cellars! for
homes being built. They extended credit to l families who needed it; their
customers responded with an unfailing consumer loyalty. In the 1930's, the
latest heating technology was the automatic-feed coal furnace, called a
"stoker". Coal deliveries were made by horse drawn wagons. In the winter, the'
horses were hitched to sleds. If the cellar was out of the wagon chute's reach,
the delivery man had to carry 100-pound bags of coal into the cellar. Herb and
Norman's first oil truck delivered fuel by gravity; if the fill was uphill from
the truck or the tank was upstairs, they hand carried the oil in 5 gallon cans.
 By
the end of World War II, the company had more than doubled in size, and the
name was changed to the Woolley Fuel Company. Norm's son, Norm Jr.
joined his Dad and uncle in 1954; and in the 1990's, Norm E. Woolley entered
the family business. The company was one of the first to fully computerize to
insure faster, more accurate delivery, service and billing. In 2008 Woolley Fuel
Company became the first Diesel Station in New Jersey to carry Biodiesel. The oldest
business in Maplewood, Woolley Fuel Co. continues to offer personal service
to its customers.
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